EP2389771B1 - Prothèse auditive partiellement implantable - Google Patents

Prothèse auditive partiellement implantable Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2389771B1
EP2389771B1 EP09700018.6A EP09700018A EP2389771B1 EP 2389771 B1 EP2389771 B1 EP 2389771B1 EP 09700018 A EP09700018 A EP 09700018A EP 2389771 B1 EP2389771 B1 EP 2389771B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hearing aid
unit
external
audio signal
audio signals
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP09700018.6A
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German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP2389771A2 (fr
Inventor
Herbert BÄCHLER
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Advanced Bionics AG
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Advanced Bionics AG
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Publication date
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Publication of EP2389771A2 publication Critical patent/EP2389771A2/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2389771B1 publication Critical patent/EP2389771B1/fr
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/60—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61N—ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY
    • A61N1/00—Electrotherapy; Circuits therefor
    • A61N1/18—Applying electric currents by contact electrodes
    • A61N1/32—Applying electric currents by contact electrodes alternating or intermittent currents
    • A61N1/36—Applying electric currents by contact electrodes alternating or intermittent currents for stimulation
    • A61N1/36036—Applying electric currents by contact electrodes alternating or intermittent currents for stimulation of the outer, middle or inner ear
    • A61N1/36038—Cochlear stimulation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/55—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using an external connection, either wireless or wired
    • H04R25/554—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception using an external connection, either wireless or wired using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/31—Aspects of the use of accumulators in hearing aids, e.g. rechargeable batteries or fuel cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/57—Aspects of electrical interconnection between hearing aid parts
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2460/00—Details of hearing devices, i.e. of ear- or headphones covered by H04R1/10 or H04R5/033 but not provided for in any of their subgroups, or of hearing aids covered by H04R25/00 but not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2460/03—Aspects of the reduction of energy consumption in hearing devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/60—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles
    • H04R25/603—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of mechanical or electronic switches or control elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; DEAF-AID SETS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Deaf-aid sets, i.e. electro-acoustic or electro-mechanical hearing aids; Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception
    • H04R25/60—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles
    • H04R25/604—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of acoustic or vibrational transducers
    • H04R25/606—Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles of acoustic or vibrational transducers acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a partially implantable hearing aid.
  • Fully implantable hearing aids are cosmetically appealing and stigma-free, so that such systems are potentially attractive despite the need for surgery and the relatively high costs involved in such systems.
  • fully implantable hearing aids still are not widely applied due to serious technical deficits and disadvantages encountered by the presently available systems.
  • the rechargeable batteries do not last for lifetime and hence must be replaced every couple of years by another surgery.
  • technological progress and new benefits cannot be applied after implantation, so that products get outdated rather fast.
  • subcutaneous microphones are rather noisy, both in terms of system noise (reduced sensitivity due to titanium membrane and package) and body noise picked-up by the microphone. The microphone position is mostly on the side of the head as opposed to the ear-canal, so that spatial information which is normally offered by the pinna is lost.
  • Partially implantable hearing aids such as all currently available cochlear implants (CI) are cosmetically less appealing, but overcome some of these problems.
  • the battery and the signal processing unit are assembled into a body worn or head worn device, which is connected via an inductive wireless link with the implanted part of the system.
  • the external device is worn behind the ear and has a relatively large size, with the largest part of the device being covered by the battery. The reason is that the battery has to last at least one full day and that the wireless transmission of both power and data through one and the same inductive link is very inefficient.
  • the total power consumption is dependent on the thickness of the skin.
  • EP 1 251 809 B1 relates to a partially implantable hearing aid designed as a cochlear implant, wherein the external part of the system comprises a device to be worn in the ear-canal, which device includes the microphone, the audio signal processing unit and a transmitter for transmitting the audio signals via a radio frequency (RF) link to the implanted part.
  • the implanted part comprises a receiver located in the mastoid and the cochlear electrode.
  • the transcutaneous power link is realized by an external charging coil and an implanted coil, with the receiver being used both in the power link and the data link.
  • WO 2006/045148 A2 relates to a partially implantable CI-system comprising a BTE (Behind-The-Ear) -like device including the external microphone, the battery and the audio signal processing unit.
  • the audio signals are transmitted via a capacitive data link to the receiver which is implanted in the mastoid and which is also used in the inductive power link.
  • BTE Behind-The-Ear
  • US 7,289,639 B2 relates to a partially implantable hearing aid comprising an implanted actuator which may be a mechanical actuator coupled to an ossicle or a cochlear electrode, and an external device which is to be worn in the ear canal and which comprises a microphone, a battery, an audio signal processing unit and an optical transmitter which is provided for establishing an optical link through the ear drum to an optical receiver implanted in the middle ear cavity.
  • the optical link also is intended to serve as the power supply for the implanted actuator.
  • a similar device is described in US 2006/0189841 A1 .
  • US3,764,748 relates to an implantable hearing aid comprising an implantable unit including an actuator for stimulating the user's hearing and an external audio signal unit comprising audio signal processing means and a light source for transmitting the processed audio signals via an optical link through the ear drum to a light responsive resistor of the implantable unit. It is not expressly mentioned where the actuator of the implantable unit is powered from.
  • this object is achieved by a partially implantable hearing aid as defined in claim 1.
  • the invention is beneficial in that, by transmitting the audio signals via an optical link to the implantable unit while power is transmitted via an inductive link to the implantable unit, the power consumption of the system can be reduced, since the power link can be optimized due to its separation from the data link.
  • the audio signal processing means and the audio signal transmission means in an external unit to be worn at least in part in the ear canal, the size of the externally visible part of the system can be minimized.
  • the actuator is a cochlear electrode.
  • the external audio signal unit may be designed as a CIC (Completely-In-the-Canal) device.
  • the power transmitting means is a charging adapter and the power receiving means is a rechargeable battery which may be located in the mastoid.
  • the external audio signal unit will comprise at least one microphone for generating the input audio signals to the audio signal processing unit.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an example of a partially implantable hearing aid comprising an electro-mechanical actuator, which example is not part of the invention.
  • the system comprises an external audio signal unit 10, which is designed as a modified CIC hearing aid and which is to be worn in the user's ear canal 12.
  • the external unit 10 comprises a microphone arrangement 14, an audio signal processing unit 16, a transmitter circuit 18 and a LED (Light Emitting Diode) 20.
  • the microphone arrangement 14 may comprises at least two spaced-apart microphones (not shown) in order to provide for acoustic beam forming capability.
  • the audio signal processing unit 16 processes the audio signals provided by the microphone arrangement 14 and supplies the processed audio signals to a transmitter circuit 18 which drives the LED 20.
  • the external unit 10 also comprises a battery (not shown) which may be rechargeable.
  • the audio signal processing unit 16 preferably is implemented by an ultra-low power hearing instrument DSP (Digital Signal Processor)of the type which is also used in electro-acoustic CIC hearing aids.
  • DSP Digital Signal Processor
  • the external part 10 is quite similar to a CIC hearing aid, with the loudspeaker being replaced by the transmitter circuit 18 and the LED 20.
  • all signal processing algorithms and procedure available in CIC hearing aids may be straightforwardly applied to the external unit 10, with only minor modifications due to the different output transducer being necessary.
  • the system also includes an implantable unit 22 comprising an implanted audio signal unit 24, an electro-mechanical actuator 26 and a power management unit 28.
  • the power management unit 28 comprises a power receiving coil 30, a power management circuitry 32 and a rechargeable battery 34.
  • the battery 34 is charged via transcutaneous inductive power link 36 by an external charging adapter 38 comprising a power transmission coil 40 which transmits power to the power receiving coil 30 of the power management unit 28.
  • the implantable audio signal unit 24 is located in the middle-ear cavity close to the ear drum 46 and comprises a photo diode 42 as an optical receiver for light 44 which is emitted by the LED 20 and which passes through the ear drum 46, a decoder 48 for retrieving the audio signals from the received light 44 and a driver unit 50 for driving the actuator 26.
  • the implantable audio signal unit 24 may be packaged in glass.
  • the actuator 26 is an electro-mechanical transducer which is coupled via a coupling element 52 to a middle-ear component 54, namely an ossicle or the cochlear wall.
  • the actuator 26 may be designed, for example, as a floating mass transducer (FMT) fixed at one of the ossicles or a direct acoustic cochlear stimulator (DACS) directly acting on the cochlear wall, i.e. foot plate, oval window, round window or any artificial opening of the cochlea.
  • FMT floating mass transducer
  • DAS direct acoustic cochlear stimulator
  • the rechargeable battery 34 of the power management unit 28 should be dimensioned for lasting at least a full day and it should be possible to recharge it within a few hours; charging must be feasible during normal operation of the hearing aid or at night.
  • the rechargeable battery 34 is designed in thin-film lithium technology.
  • the power management unit 28 serves as the power supply for the implantable audio signal unit 24 and the actuator 26.
  • the audio signal unit 10 may be designed as a modified BTE hearing aid wherein the LED 20 is located in the ear canal 12.
  • the LED 20 is connected by wire to the external part of the BTE hearing aid in a manner similar to manner in which an ex-receiver is connected to a BTE hearing aid, with the external part which is located behind the user's ear comprising the microphone arrangement 14, the audio signal processing unit 16 and the transmitter circuit 18.
  • the ex-receiver of a conventional BTE hearing aid would be replaced by an optical audio signal transmitter comprising the LED 20.
  • Fig. 2 shows an example of the circuitry of the implantable audio signal unit 24, wherein the photo diode 42 triggers a H-bridge comprising four switches 56A, 56B, 56C and 56D, which drives the actuator 26 as a floating load.
  • the driving signal of a H-bridge usually is a pulse width modulated signal or a pulse density modulated signal, i.e. a purely digital pulse-train, the analogue-to-digital conversion is done by the low-pass characteristics of the actuator 26 itself.
  • the decoder 48 is implemented as part of the H-bridge.
  • Fig. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, wherein the actuator is a cochlear electrode 60.
  • the power management unit 128 in addition to the power control 32, the power receiving coil 30 and the rechargeable battery 34 comprises a signal decoder/driver unit 148 and a photo diode 42.
  • the photo diode 42 is integrated within the housing of the power management unit 128 and detects light supplied by an implanted optical fibre 62.
  • Light 44 which is emitted by the LED 20 of the external audio signal unit 10 and which has passed through the ear drum 46 is collected by a lens 64 and is coupled into one end of the optical fibre 62 by which it is guided to the photo diode 42.
  • the decoder/driver unit 148 supplies electrical stimulation signals to the cochlear electrode 60 via a wire 66.
  • the lens 64 is located in the middle ear cavity close to the ear drum 46, whereas the unit 128 is implanted in the mastoid.
  • the photo diode 42 may be located in the middle-ear cavity close to the ear drum 46 in the manner shown in Fig. 1 , with the output signal of the photo diode being supplied by wire to the unit 128.

Claims (11)

  1. Prothèse auditive partiellement implantable comprenant une unité de signal audio externe (10) adaptée pour être portée au moins en partie dans le canal auditif d'un utilisateur (12) et une unité implantable (122), l'unité externe comprenant un moyen de traitement de signal audio (16) adapté pour produire des signaux audio traités à partir de signaux audio d'entrée et un moyen (18, 20) adapté pour transmettre les signaux audio traités par l'intermédiaire d'une liaison optique (44) à travers un tympan (46) vers un récepteur optique (42, 62, 64) de l'unité implantable, l'unité implantable comprenant un actionneur (60) adapté pour stimuler l'audition de l'utilisateur, un moyen de réception de puissance (30, 128) et une unité de commande (148) pour transformer les signaux audio reçus en un signal d'entrée vers l'actionneur, caractérisée par un moyen externe (38) pour transmettre une puissance de manière transcutanée vers l'unité implantable par l'intermédiaire d'une liaison inductive (36), où l'actionneur est une électrode cochléaire, et où le récepteur optique comprend une photodiode (42), un moyen de collecte de lumière (64) adapté pour être situé dans l'oreille moyenne pour collecter la lumière (44) reçue depuis l'unité de signal audio externe (10) et une fibre optique (62) pour faire passer la lumière du moyen de collecte de lumière à la photodiode.
  2. Prothèse auditive selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle le moyen externe pour transmettre la puissance est un adaptateur de chargement (38) et le moyen de réception de puissance (30, 128) comprend une batterie rechargeable (34).
  3. Prothèse auditive selon la revendication 2, dans laquelle la batterie rechargeable (34) est adaptée pour être située dans la mastoïde.
  4. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle l'unité de signal audio externe (10) comprend au moins un microphone (14) pour générer les signaux audio d'entrée.
  5. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle l'unité de signal audio externe (10) est conçue comme un dispositif CIC.
  6. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications 1 à 4, dans laquelle l'unité de signal audio externe (10) est conçue comme un dispositif BTE et dans laquelle une source de lumière (20) du moyen (18, 20) pour transmettre les signaux audio traités est adaptée pour être située dans le canal auditif de l'utilisateur (12).
  7. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle le moyen (18, 20) pour transmettre les signaux audio traités comprend une LED (20) adaptée pour être située dans le canal auditif de l'utilisateur (12).
  8. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications précédentes, dans laquelle le récepteur optique comprend une photodiode (42) adaptée pour être située dans l'oreille moyenne.
  9. Prothèse auditive selon la revendication 1, dans laquelle la photodiode est adaptée pour être située dans la mastoïde.
  10. Prothèse auditive selon l'une des revendications 8 et 9, dans laquelle l'unité de commande (148) est adaptée pour être située dans la mastoïde.
  11. Prothèse auditive selon la revendication 10, dans laquelle l'unité de commande (148) est située dans un boîtier commun avec la batterie rechargeable (34).
EP09700018.6A 2009-01-21 2009-01-21 Prothèse auditive partiellement implantable Not-in-force EP2389771B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/EP2009/050674 WO2009047370A2 (fr) 2009-01-21 2009-01-21 Prothèse auditive partiellement implantable

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2389771A2 EP2389771A2 (fr) 2011-11-30
EP2389771B1 true EP2389771B1 (fr) 2017-05-10

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US (1) US8625829B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP2389771B1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2009201537B2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2009047370A2 (fr)

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AU2009201537B2 (en) 2013-08-01
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US8625829B2 (en) 2014-01-07
WO2009047370A2 (fr) 2009-04-16
US20110280426A1 (en) 2011-11-17
EP2389771A2 (fr) 2011-11-30

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